


His Pilots

by ryoflame



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Gen, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-20 04:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/882891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryoflame/pseuds/ryoflame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Each of the world's remaining Jaeger pilots have their own stories... each have reasons for doing what they do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Pilots

**Author's Note:**

> A quick something I wrote up this evening. Making up character backgrounds for those that hardly had any and just… playing around a little with the emotions this movie gave me. There may be some movie inaccuracies, which I wouldn’t mind being pointed out to me, but for the most part I did take the liberty of making a lot of this up because some of these characters just got no love and we got no backstory.
> 
> Please note; this was written before I knew of the facts published in the official Pacific Rim companion/artbook.

Raleigh stands in the centre of the huge space that is the Shatterdome, as he gazes up at the mammoth shape of Gipsy Danger. He marvels over the beauty of her design, sleek and powerful, a wonderful shell hiding the destruction that she is capable of. To this day, he finds staring up at the Jaegers dizzying, surreal--that mankind was capable of making such a beast of a weapon to defend itself. To this day he finds it a wonder that takes his breath away, and although his neck complains at the angle he has to strain it to keep staring upward, he takes no notice. 

He can hardly believe that he would have the chance to see her in action again, let alone that he would once more get the chance to pilot her. It all feels like a dream; Stacker approaching him at the Wall's construction site and explaining their situation--their _resistance_ \--and asking for Raleigh's help only happened hours ago, and he still can't quite wrap his head around it.

He thinks of his brother, of the rush of emotion he felt when Yancy was torn from Gipsy's cockpit--not his own emotion, although it was certainly there, no--his brother's emotion. His brother's fear and pain still as fresh in his mind as it was on the day it was first burned into him, and one lingering thought that was not Raleigh's own that he knows he'll never shake no matter how many more years he lives; a thought amplified and shared through their neural link at the time his brother was so cruelly taken away.

_I can't leave Raleigh all alone. I just can't. I'm all he has._

Raleigh's lips tighten to a thin, pressed line as he swallows down the emotion that seems to be trying to claw its way up his throat from from deep in his stomach and blinks rapidly as his vision blurs. Gipsy seems to stare impassively down at him, her gold visor betraying nothing.

'It's alright.' he isn't sure if he's speaking to the mech or to his lost brother. 'It's okay. I'm not alone any more.'

\---

Herc thumbs the well-worn photograph he carries with him in his wallet. Three smiling faces gaze out at him from it, and he hardly recognises his own anymore, his features in the mirror these days almost as wrinkled and worn as the photo is. In the image, a child sits in his lap, laughing, and he musters a smile at how much Chuck has grown.

He glances up from his seat where he's eating rations with the rest of them and gazes across the lunch area to where Chuck is playing with his bulldog, the animal slobbering enthusiastically over the somewhat deflated football that they somehow managed to hold onto, even though almost everything else they owned was lost in one of the Kaiju sieges on Sydney harbour.

Herc had not wanted this life for his son and while he does his best to not let it show, he quietly curses himself every day for getting Chuck tangled up in the danger of the war on the Kaiju. He knows that Chuck would not necessarily have been any safer living a normal life, he _knows_ that... but every time they step into the Jaeger a small part of Herc wonders if this might be the day he loses the only thing in his life that matters anymore.

His son looks up and catches his eye and he shoots his father that same cocky half-smirk that makes Herc both want to hug him and give him a good kick in the ass. He never was sure which of the two would have done the boy more good growing up, but he supposes these days it doesn't matter. Children grew up different these days; they had more to fear.

He looks back down at the photo and runs his thumb gently along the third face in the image. He sees so much of his wife's features in his son that sometimes it hurts a little just to look at him. He misses her terribly.

There had been a lot lost in the Sydney sieges, and some things were irreplaceable.

\---

The Wei Tang brothers sit facing each other in a triangle, legs crossed and eyes closed as they meditate together. It's a part of their routine; remaining physically fit is important, but it's also important to keep the mind just as focused and sharp as the body.

Even before the technology that allowed for an artificially-induced neural link the triplets had a connection. They had shared their whole lives with each other, from their time in the womb all the way through to that very day, there had not been a day in their lives where they had been apart. They had not known their parents, had been raised by a monk instead who had taught them how to keep their focus even in the heat of battle, who had taught them valuable lessons that kept them calm and focused in even the most intense of situations.

They had applied for Jaeger training on the old man's suggestion and in the hope that they might be able to do some good. They had been the best candidates by miles, their sibling bond rare and precious, perfect for the Drift, only very minimal additional training needed.

Hu, the youngest by mere minutes, stretches his arms and opens his eyes to regard his brothers. Jin and Cheung follow his example as they slowly come out of the relaxed state they had settled into and all three stand. Cheung swipes their basketball from his bunk and lazily tosses it from one hand to the other as he offers a wry smile before flicking it up over Hu's head. Jin easily snatches it from the air as if he'd been expecting it.

'How about another round?'

\---

Lieutenant Sasha Kaidanovsky had once been Commander Sasha Volkova, before she had been hand-picked for Jaeger combat and had been introduced to Aleksis Kaidanovsky in training. Unlike most of the other countries, the Russian military had not chosen to pick an already well-bonded pair, such as siblings or childhood friends, but had instead run countless personality tests to find the best compatibility in their ranks.

Sasha had not been impressed with her partner, despite his military track record and imposing figure, and had made it clear enough by completely flattening him in physical combat training. If anything, Aleksis who seemed impressed by _her_. He spent the next year working hard to keep up with her, and he treated her like an equal instead of _a woman_ , as she so often heard from other male soldiers.

Jaeger pilots can keep nothing hidden from one another during a Drift, and during one mission, two years after they had begun fighting together, she had seen his intent to propose.

As Cherno Alpha wound down from having crushed a Kaiju's skull between its massive fists, Sasha had disengaged, still giddy with the rush of adrenaline that accompanies every battle, flipped up Aleksis' helmet visor and had kissed him as she accepted, not with words but with a rush of positive thought and emotion.

Now, Lieutenants Aleksis and Sasha Kaidanovsky are among the top respected military personnel in their country, perhaps even in the world. They make for an intimidating pair, and as they stride through the Shatterdome the technicians give them a wide berth. It amuses the both of them, and they'll laugh about it later in the quarters they share.

Aleksis treats her like a queen and isn't ashamed of doing so in front of other people. He respects her, he loves her, and maybe they _are_ a perfect example of the Russian military's tests coming out with positive results but Sasha doesn't care what might have brought them together. They are together, and that's all that matters.

\---

Mako wakes in a cold sweat, a scream strangling her in its attempt to escape and she manages to smother it, to keep it from tearing its way out. She resists the urge to weep as she shakes off the last of the nightmare that had woken her.

In her dream she had been back in Tokyo on that dreadful day when her world had collapsed in on her. On the day she had lost everything, including her hope. Only in her dream, there had been no Jaeger to come to her defense; in this dream, young Mako Mori keeps running, and running, as the city she lived in the entirety of her short life collapses around her, the Kaiju's deafening shrieks drowning out her own.

Mako gathers the sheets around her as she waits for her galloping heart to slow, as she wills her breathing to even out, as she tries to push the memories back into the depths of her mind where they belong. Eventually she stands, knowing that sleep will be a long time coming, and fixes herself some tea.

Her gaze falls on a photograph, neatly framed on her desk beside the chaotic mess of engine parts she is in the middle of dissecting. A young Mako held in the arms of Marshall Stacker Pentecost. Both are smiling, both faces carry so much hope, hope that feels so difficult to come by some days. She touches the frame lightly, wishing silently for a world in which hope might come easily to the eyes of children again, as it had once been in her own.

However, for all that Mako may have lost that day, she had gained one very important thing. One very important person. She had gained a mentor, a father figure, a friend. A man she trusted not only with her own life, but with the fate of the world.

\---

Marshall Pentecost sits in the control room, gazing out at the metal behemoths that are man's last hope. Around him, technicians and scientists buzz from place to place, sharing information and suggestions, tensions high in anticipation of the next attack. Above the main hall, the seconds on the war clock tick away menacingly.

He folds his hands in his lap and sighs softly, wondering when he began to feel so _tired_ all the time. He knows it's partly that he isn't getting any younger, partly the residual damage from his own time as a Jaeger pilot. He sees the other pilots in training and envies them, yet pities them for the responsibility they carry.

Reaching across the desk, he picks up the files of the remaining Jaeger pilots and flicks through them, scanning their profiles briefly. All experts, all well-trained in combat, and yet Stacker is well aware that with the Kaiju growing stronger with every appearance that it's only a matter of time before he starts to lose them. 

The knowledge sits like a weight on his heart.

'Marshall, you're needed on the floor.' someone says, indicating the lower levels. Stacker barely hears them, but the urgent request is echoed and he then sighs again before standing and nodding his assent.

He squares his shoulders; now is not the time for sentiment. His troops are limited but they need support, they need a guide. He may not be much of a soldier anymore these days, but he will most certainly do his utmost to ensure that his pilots survive.

 _His pilots._ He smiles a little at that as he heads down to the lower levels.


End file.
